Apparatus for the treatment of permeable textile materials

ABSTRACT

An apparatus for treating fluid-permeable materials which includes a treatment chamber adapted to contain a gaseous or liquid treatment medium, inlet means for introducing the material to be treated to the treatment chamber, at least one perforated roller-like conveying means rotatably disposed within said treatment chamber, the conveying surface of said roller-like conveying means being provided by an outer perforated jacket means, an inner perforated jacket means spaced closely adjacent to the outer jacket means, the inner and outer jacket means cooperating to allow treatment of material of substantially differing widths without appreciably affecting the rate of flow of the treatment medium across the conveying surface, means for rotating the conveying means, means for circulating the treatment medium from the outside to the inside of the conveying means, thereby penetrating the material being conveyed thereon, and outlet means for removing the material from the treatment chamber.

United States Patent [1 1 Fleissner 1 APPARATUS FOR THE TREATMENT OF PERMEABLE TEXTILE MATERIALS [75] Inventor: Heinz Fleissner, Frankfurt am Main,

Germany [73] Assignee: Vepa Aktiengesellschaft, Basel,

Switzerland [22] Filed: Oct. 27, 1972 [21] Appl. No.: 301,295

Related U.S. Application Data [63] Continuation-impart of Ser. No. 40,055, May 25,

1970, abandoned.

[30] Foreign Application Priority Data May 24, 1969 Germany P 19 26 742.6

[5 6] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 4/1919 Allen 34/115 UX 3/1937 Carleton 34/115 X 8/1965 Chaikin et a1. 68/184 X 3/1969 Fleissner 68/D1G. 5

[ Dec. 18, 1973 3,511,066 5/1970 Fleissner 68/22 R X Primary Examiner--Billy J. Wilhite Assistant Examiner-Philip R. Coe Attorney-Paul M. Craig, Jr. et a1.

[ 5 7 ABSTRACT An apparatus for treating fluid-permeable materials which includes a treatment chamber adapted to contain a gaseous or liquid treatment medium, inlet means for introducing the material to be treated to the treatment chamber, at least one perforated roller-like conveying means rotatably disposed within said treatment chamber, the conveying surface of said rollerlike conveying means being provided by an outer perforated jacket means, an inner perforated jacket means spaced closely adjacent to the outer jacket means, the inner and outer jacket means cooperating to allow treatment of material of substantially differing widths without appreciably affecting the rate of flow of the treatment medium across the conveying surface, means for rotating the conveying means, means for circulating the treatment medium from the outside to the inside of the conveying means, thereby penetrating the material being conveyed thereon, and outlet means for removing the material from the treatment chamber.

19 Claims, 5 Drawing Figures Pmmannm 18 1975 Y 3,779,047

lnren far- CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS:

This application is a continuation-in-part of copending application Ser. No. 40,055 filed May 25, 1970 and now abandoned.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to an apparatus for treating fluid-permeable goods, especially textile goods, in a container or a housing containing at least one sieve drum' means and at least one unit which serves for circulating a treatment medium, e. g. a liquid, or steam-like and/or gaseous processing medium. The sieve drum is penetrated by the treatment medium, preferably from the outside to the inside thereof. Also, a baffle plate is installed in the sieve drum which prevents the processing medium from entering the drum at that portion which is not covered by the material being treated.

There are well-known devices which comprise one or several sieve drums subject to a suction draft. These devices are used for washing, rinsing, drying and steaming, for heat-setting, thermolizing and other processes. They generally serve for treating textile materials. The textile material can be treated in loose form, in the form of tops and tows or material lengths, i.e. as fabrics, knit fabrics or fleeces. These types of devices feature an especially good processing effect since the processing or treatment medium penetrates the material. Furthermore,,with these devices it is possible to treat the materials without any tension because the material adheres tightly to the sieve drum during the entire treatment period, i.e., while it is being transported through the processing medium. The sieve drums are generally penetrated by the processing medium from the outside to the inside thereof because they are generally subject to a suction draft.

One of the disadvantages of these devices is that they are designed for only one specific material width. If narrower material lengths are to be treated, the lateral sections of the drum surface which are not covered by material must be screened off from the suction draft'by appropriate means, e.g., by canvas lengths or the like. This screening is" to prevent the processing medium from flowing freely into the sieve drum without actually penetrating the textile material. When an unused part of the processing medium exists, this means that a portion of the pump and fan capacities are unused and thus the device operates uneconomically. The suction draft, proper. is also weakened.

The application of the covering means as necessitated by the prior art'produces prolonged down-times. With aggressive processing liquors it may even be necessary to drain these liquors from the bowls containing the drums before the covers can be applied in order to protect the operators against the highly concentrated caustic solutions or boiling liquors.

In order to eliminate the above disadvantages it has been suggested to equip the perforated rollers or sieve drums with adjustable plates. In this case, the process ing medium can flow towards the drum and through the material only at the free space between these two adjustable plates. The plates can be adjusted by means of threaded spindles. However, the bearings and the adjusting mechanism for these platesrequire a certain technical input which results in extra costs, and furthermore, the adjusting mechanism needs constant maintenance works if it is to operate satisfactorily.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to avoid the prior art disadvantages in the treatment of textile materials.

Another object of the present invention is to provide an improved apparatus which makes a perforated drum or sieve drum means adaptable to treating textile materials with varying material widths.

Other objects and further scope of applicability of the present invention will become apparent from the detailed description given hereinafter; it should be understood, however, that the detailed description and specific examples, while indicating the preferred embodiments of the invention, are given by way of illustration only, since various changes and modifications within the spirit and scope of the invention will become apparent to those. skilled in the art from this detailed description.

Pursuant to the present invention it has been found that the above-mentioned disadvantages may be eliminated and a much improved apparatus for treating fluid-permeable textile materials with varying widths may be obtained if the sieve drum is provided with a double jacket which includes an outer perforated jacket and an inner perforated jacket. This double jacket puts up an additional resistance to the inflowing processing medium. However, this additional resistance, takes effect only at-that portion of the drum surface which is not covered by the textile material since the textile material itself usually puts up a greater resistance to the flow of processing medium than the double drum jacket.

Between the inner and the outer sieve drum jackets there is. a clearance ofpreferably about *1 0 to "1 5 mm.

aii d the free space (i.e. the perforated area through which the processing medium flows) of the inner sieve drum jacket is smaller than that of the outer jacket so that a sufficiently large resistance to the inflowing processing medium is provided. in order to avoid any obstruction of the perforationsof the inner sieve drum jacket, it is suggested that the holes or perforations of the inner drum jacket arelarger than those of the outer jacket so that there is no danger of fibers that have entered the clearance through the holes of the outer jacket from clinging to the inner drum jacket. However, it is advantageous to provide the outer sieve drum jacket with a fine wire mesh cover which effectively prevents any fluffs or similar. particles from being drawn into the drum interior. In order to eliminate any liquor level equalization within the clearance between the two sieve drum jackets (when the processing medium is a liquor), it is suggested to subdivide this clearance, at least near the drum front; sides, into annular sections, by means of ring-shaped straps.

Especially with sieve drum dryers and sieve drum steamers where a gaseous treatment medium is used and the surface sections which are not covered by the material are screened off from the suction draft by means of a fixed baffle plate, it is desirable to subdivide the clearance between the drum jackets into ring segments by arranging straps in the direction of the drum axis in order to eliminate any pressure balance within the clearance.

The inner sieve drum jacket need not be very strong and can therefore be substantially thinner than the outer jacket. This is especially important since the sieve drums are generally made of high-quality steels.

Care has to be taken that the perforations or holes of the two sieve drum jackets are arranged staggered to each other so that the resistance to the inflowing processing medium is further increased.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The present invention will become more fully understood from the detailed description given hereinbelow and the accompanying drawing which is given by way of illustration only and thus are not limitative of the present invention and wherein,

FIG. 1 is a cross section of a sieve drum bowl;

FIG. 2 is a longitudinal section of the bowl according to FIG. l;' v I FIG. 3 is an enlarged section of the sieve drum jackets with liquor level and pressure curves denoting the pressure drops or resistances to flow created across the jackets;

FIG. 4 is a cross section ofa sieve drum device which serves for drying, steaming and/or heat-setting; and

FIG. 5 is a longitudinal section of the device according to FIG. 4.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The apparatus according to FIGS. 1 and 2 consists of a liquor container 1 in which a sieve drum 2 is accommodated. The sieve drum 2 is provided with an outer perforated sieve drum jacket 3 and an inner perforated sieve drum jacket 4. Moreover, there is a perforated plate 5 arranged within the liquor container, underneath the sieve drum 2. A textile material length 6 is guided around a substantial portion of the sieve drum surface provided by the outer jacket; the textile material only covers a section of the width of the outer jacket. Associated with the sieve drum are rollers 8 which ensure the further conveyance of the textile material length 6. Using these rollers, the textile material length is transported to a subsequent squeezing unit 7. Instead of the squeezing unit, an exhaust device can be provided for dehydrating the material. Within the treatment bowl the liquor level 9 outside the sieve drum 2 is substantially higher than the liquor level 9 inside the sieve drum. The textile material length 6 is penetrated by the processing liquor because of this liquor level difference. At one front side of the sieve drum 2 a lateral collecting vessel 10 is installed. The liquor from within the sieve drum flows into this vessel. From the collecting vessel 10, the liquor is then pumped back into the bowl section outside the sieve drum by means of a pump 11. A pump motor 12 with a flange-mounted variable speed gear 13 is supported above the collecting vessel 10. The pumping capacity can be adjusted via the variable speed gear by turning a hand wheel 14.

Depending on the density of the textile material length 6 and the pre-set pump capacity, a pressure difference between the liquor levels 9 and 9' is created. Due to the density of the textile material length 6, the pressure drop at the drum section where the material covers the outer sieve drum jacket 3 is very great. As the solid line 15 shows in FIG. 3, the inner drum jacket 4 causes a substantially smaller pressure drop. However, at the side sections of the outer jacket, which are not covered by any material, there is little or no resistance and therefore a relatively large amount of liquor passes through the outer jacket sections. This large amount of inflowing liquor then meets with the resistance of the inner sieve drum jacket 4 (see the dashed line 16) in FIG. 3. As a consequence, the damming effect of the inner drum jacket 4 prevents the amount of liquor which flows in at the uncovered side sections of the drum from being substantially higher than that which actually penetrates the textile material. Therefore, with a constant pump capacity and the same type of material, it is possible to treat material lengths of differing widths with an essentially unchanged rate of liquor flow across the conveying surface of the sieve drum. This means that the washing effect for relatively narrow and dense textile materials is essentially the same as for wide material lengths which cover practically the entire drum surface.

With further reference to the embodiment of the apparatus shown in FIGS. 1, 2 and 3, it will be appreciated that as shown in FIG. 3, the liquid level outside the sieve drum is shown to be considerably higher than within the sieve drum. As the liquor outside the sieve drum enters the sieve drum through the inner and outer jackets, a resistance to flow must be overcome. This flow resistance is very low when the outer jacket surface is not covered by textile material so that in accordance with the curve shown by the dashed line between the outer andinner jacket designated by reference numeral 16, the liquor or any other fluid-will flow through the conveying surface of sieve drum, that is, the outer jacket without encompassing very much resistance. Since, according to this invention, the inner perforated jacket is provided and since it exhibitsa higher resistance to that of the outer jacket, the liquor will now flow through this inner jacket, and due to this higher resistance, the flow is represented as further illustrated by that portion of the dashed line extending within the inner jacket. As thus illustrated, a substantially higher resistance must be overcome. However, the situation and operation is quite different when the outer jacket of the sieve drum is covered by the textile material to be treated (which is designated by the reference numeral 6). In this case, the liquor requires increased pressure in order to be able to flow through the material at all, and for this reason the curve shown by the solid line 15 between the inner and'outer jackets is drawn in only well below the curve shown by dashed line 16. In other words, the curves represented by lines 15 and 16 are schematic illustrations of the pressure drops taking place as the fluid passes through the outer and inner jackets depending upon whether a textile material is present. After overcoming the resistance caused and greatly increased by the presence of the material 6, the liquor will then flow without encountering a larger resistance through the inner jacket to the height of the level within the sieve drum. This, as noted above, is illustrated by the solid line 15. (The vertical distance from the upper level to the lower level represents the total pressure drop and the portions of the curves between the inner and outer jacket represent the pressure drops effected before the liquor passes through the inner jacket.)

FIG. 1 also shows that the clearance between the outer sieve drum jacket 3 and the inner sieve drum 3 jacket 4 is subdivided into annular sections by means of ring-shaped straps 17 which are arranged parallel to thefront edge of the drum. This ensures the avoidance of any liquor level equalization over large sections of the clearance.

The same inventive concepts described above apply to devices operating-with a steam or gaseous processing medium, (see FIGS. 4 and 5). A device of this kind comprises a heat-insulated housing 20 which is subdivided by a partition wall 21 into a treatment chamber 22 and a fan compartment 23. Within the treatment chamber 22 sieve drums 24 are arranged, which are subject to a suction draft. Also, perforated plates 25 are installed above and underneath the sieve drums 24. Within the fan compartment are disposed fan wheels 33, each of which is adjoined to a specific sieve drum. Also, radiators 26 which are installed above and underneath the fans 33. A drive 27 for driving the sieve drums 24 as well as another drive 28 for driving the fans 33 are each mounted to the outside of the housing 20. In the drum interior, at that portion of the drum which is not covered by the material being treated, baffle plates 29 are provided which screen this portion of the drum surface from the suction draftfThe clearance between the outer drum jacket 3 and the inner drum jacket 4 is subdivided into axial extending sections by means of straps 30. The material to be treated is fed to and discharged from this device by conveyor belts 31 and 32. The conveyor belts can be replaced by a pair of intake rollers at the inlet end and a chute or a pair of discharge rollers at the discharge end of the device. By means of the fan 33, a negative pressure is produced in the well known way within the sieve drum, which makes the material adhere to the sieve drum and ensures at the same time an intensive penetration of the processing medium through the textile material length. At one front side of the drum, the processing medium is exhausted by means of the fan 33 and forced back into the treatment chamber via heating means 26.

Similar to the sieve drum according to FIG. 1, the sieve drums shown in FIGS. 4 and 5 may also be subdivided into sections by means of ring-shaped straps.

With respect to the use of straps 17 in the embodiment of FIG. I or axially extending elements 30 in the embodiment of FIG. 5, it willbe understood that straps l7 and elements 30 are useful in the preferred embodiments of the apparatus. However, these straps and elements are not required for operation of the invention. Thus, with reference to rings or straps 17, it will be understood that since the inner and outer jackets of the sieve drum means are passed through by the treatment medium substantially in the radial direction, the rings can only prevent a through-flow of the fluid, particularly liquid, medium between the two perforated jackets in the axial direction of the sieve drum means. The flow component in the axial direction is extremely small so that the rings or straps 17 exhibit only a relatively small effect on the over-all flow-through of the fluid through the sieve drum. Moreover, it will be appreciated that since the inner and outer jackets are closely spaced from each other, the spacing or passage formed between the two jackets also provides a resistance to axial flow thus facilitating the radial flow through the perforations of the inner and outer jackets. Thus, the primary function of the straps 17 is for the prevention of the axial component of the liquid between the inner and outer jackets which occurs in the zone of the marginal sections of the material on the section of the outer jacket which is not covered by the ma terial being treated. Because of the close spacing of the inner and outer jackets and because the greater component of the fluid flow is in the radial direction, the presence of straps 17 is not essential. for operation of the subject invention.

Furthermore, it will also be understood that with respect to the elements 30 which extend axially, these elements, as heretofore noted, serve to subdivide the clearance between the drum jackets into ring segments by being arranged in the direction of the drum axis and thus serve to further eliminate any pressure balance within the clearance between the jackets. Therefore, the use of straps 30 is preferred but not absolutely essential for the purposes of the subject invention.

The invention being thus described, it will be obvious that the same may be varied in many ways. Such variations are not to be regarded as a departure from the spirit and scope of the invention, and all such modifications as would be apparent to one skilled in the art are intended to be included.

What is claimed is:

1. An apparatus for treating lengths of fluid permeabIe materials which comprises a treatment chamber adapted to contain a fluid treatment medium, at least one sieve drum means rotatably disposed within said treatment chamber, said sieve drum means having an inner and an outer perforated jacket means, said outer jacket means providing a perforated conveying surface for the material to be treated and said inner perforated jacket means being spaced inwardly from and closely adjacent to said outer jacket means, inlet means for in troducing the material to be treated to the treatment chamber so that at least a portion of the width and the periphery of the conveying surface is covered by said material, means for rotating said sieve drum means, at least one means for circulating the fluid treatment medium from the outside to the inside of said sieve drum means, thereby penetrating the material being conveyed thereon, and outlet means for removing the material from the treatment chamber; said inner perforated jacket means providing a greater resistance to the flow of the fluid treatment medium therethrough than the resistance provided by the outer perforated jacket means and said inner perforated jacket means providing a resistance to the flow of the fluid treatment medium which causes a substantially smaller pressure drop than the pressure drop caused at the portion of the outer perforated jacket means which is covered by said material whereby the inner perforated jacket means prevents the amount of fluid treatment medium which flows through the uncovered portion of the conveying surface of the sieve drum means from being substantially higher than the amount of fluid treatment medium which penetrates through said material and whereby lengths of material of substantially differing widths may be treated on said sievedrum means with an essentially unchanged rate of flow of said fluid treatment medium across said conveying surface.

2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the treatment chamber is a liquor container adapted to contain a treatment liquor and the sieve drum means is at least partially disposed in said liquor container whereby a liquor level is provided in the container and in the sieve drum means.

3. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein the liquor level in the container outside the sieve drum means is substantially higher than the liquor level inside the sieve drum means, the penetration of the material by the treatment liquor being effected by this liquor level difference.

4. The apparatus ofclaim 2, wherein roller means are operatively associated withthe sieve drum means to ensure contact of the material with a substantial portion of the periphery of the conveying surface.

5. The apparatus of claim 4, wherein a device for dehydrating the material is disposed behind the outlet roller means.

6. The apparatus of claim 5, wherein the device is a squeezing unit.

7. The apparatus of claim 6, wherein a lateral collecting vessel is disposed at one end of the liquor container, said collecting vessel communicating with the interior of the sieve drum means and said means for circulating said fluid treatment medium including a pump means within said collecting vessel for circulating the treatment liquor from within the sieve drum means to that section of the container outside of the sieve drum means.

8. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein a perforated plate means is arranged within the liquor container below the conveying means.

9. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the space between the outer jacket means and the inner jacket means is subdivided into annular sections by ringshaped straps which are arranged substantially parallel to ends of the sieve drum means.

10. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the treatment chamber is a heat-insulated housing which is subdivided by a partition means into a treatment chamber and a fan chamber.

11. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein the treatment medium is a gaseous medium and the means for circulating the treatment medium is a fan means disposed in the fan chamber.

12. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein heating means are disposed in the circulation zone of the treatment medium. 1

13. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein the heating means are disposed above and below the fan means.

14. The apparatus of claim 13, wherein baffle means are disposed within the sieve drum means at that portion of the periphery of said sieve drum means which is not covered with the material being treated.

15. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein space between the inner jacket means and the outer jacket means is subdivided by ring-shaped straps into a plurality of annular sections, said straps being arranged in the direction of the drum axis.

16. The apparatus of claim 15, wherein the inlet and outlet means are conveyor belts.

17. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the free section of the inner jacket means is smaller than that of the outer jacket means.

18. The apparatus of claim 17, wherein the perforations formed in the inner jacket means are larger than the perforations in the outer jacket means.

19. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the perforations formed in the two jacket means are staggered with respect to each other. 

1. An apparatus for treating lengths of fluid permeable materials which comprises a treatment Chamber adapted to contain a fluid treatment medium, at least one sieve drum means rotatably disposed within said treatment chamber, said sieve drum means having an inner and an outer perforated jacket means, said outer jacket means providing a perforated conveying surface for the material to be treated and said inner perforated jacket means being spaced inwardly from and closely adjacent to said outer jacket means, inlet means for introducing the material to be treated to the treatment chamber so that at least a portion of the width and the periphery of the conveying surface is covered by said material, means for rotating said sieve drum means, at least one means for circulating the fluid treatment medium from the outside to the inside of said sieve drum means, thereby penetrating the material being conveyed thereon, and outlet means for removing the material from the treatment chamber; said inner perforated jacket means providing a greater resistance to the flow of the fluid treatment medium therethrough than the resistance provided by the outer perforated jacket means and said inner perforated jacket means providing a resistance to the flow of the fluid treatment medium which causes a substantially smaller pressure drop than the pressure drop caused at the portion of the outer perforated jacket means which is covered by said material whereby the inner perforated jacket means prevents the amount of fluid treatment medium which flows through the uncovered portion of the conveying surface of the sieve drum means from being substantially higher than the amount of fluid treatment medium which penetrates through said material and whereby lengths of material of substantially differing widths may be treated on said sieve drum means with an essentially unchanged rate of flow of said fluid treatment medium across said conveying surface.
 2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the treatment chamber is a liquor container adapted to contain a treatment liquor and the sieve drum means is at least partially disposed in said liquor container whereby a liquor level is provided in the container and in the sieve drum means.
 3. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein the liquor level in the container outside the sieve drum means is substantially higher than the liquor level inside the sieve drum means, the penetration of the material by the treatment liquor being effected by this liquor level difference.
 4. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein roller means are operatively associated with the sieve drum means to ensure contact of the material with a substantial portion of the periphery of the conveying surface.
 5. The apparatus of claim 4, wherein a device for dehydrating the material is disposed behind the outlet roller means.
 6. The apparatus of claim 5, wherein the device is a squeezing unit.
 7. The apparatus of claim 6, wherein a lateral collecting vessel is disposed at one end of the liquor container, said collecting vessel communicating with the interior of the sieve drum means and said means for circulating said fluid treatment medium including a pump means within said collecting vessel for circulating the treatment liquor from within the sieve drum means to that section of the container outside of the sieve drum means.
 8. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein a perforated plate means is arranged within the liquor container below the conveying means.
 9. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the space between the outer jacket means and the inner jacket means is subdivided into annular sections by ring-shaped straps which are arranged substantially parallel to ends of the sieve drum means.
 10. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the treatment chamber is a heat-insulated housing which is subdivided by a partition means into a treatment chamber and a fan chamber.
 11. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein the treatment medium is a gaseous medium and the means for circulating the treatment medium is a fan means disposed in the fan chamber.
 12. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein heating meanS are disposed in the circulation zone of the treatment medium.
 13. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein the heating means are disposed above and below the fan means.
 14. The apparatus of claim 13, wherein baffle means are disposed within the sieve drum means at that portion of the periphery of said sieve drum means which is not covered with the material being treated.
 15. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein space between the inner jacket means and the outer jacket means is subdivided by ring-shaped straps into a plurality of annular sections, said straps being arranged in the direction of the drum axis.
 16. The apparatus of claim 15, wherein the inlet and outlet means are conveyor belts.
 17. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the free section of the inner jacket means is smaller than that of the outer jacket means.
 18. The apparatus of claim 17, wherein the perforations formed in the inner jacket means are larger than the perforations in the outer jacket means.
 19. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the perforations formed in the two jacket means are staggered with respect to each other. 